handled

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of handle.

   The committee handled the complaint discreetly before it reached the press.

   Once the paperwork had been handled, the transfer went through within days.

   Note

   One spelling does two jobs here. It stands alone as a past tense (she handled the crates), and it follows have or be as a participle (the crates had been handled). The verb behind it reaches from touching or holding with the hands to managing a problem or treating a theme in writing. Before a noun, though, a handled jug belongs to the adjective meaning 'having handles'.

2. 2
   adjective

   Equipped with one or more handles, often of a specified number or kind.

   The potter shaped a handled jug for serving water at the table.

   Gardeners prefer a long-handled spade for turning deep soil.

   Note

   Most at home as the second half of a compound: two-handled, long-handled. These are hyphenated before a noun, and the first element names how many handles there are or what kind. The bare form does turn up on its own; Sydney Punch in 1881 has a worn wife waiting with "cold flat-irons and handled broom." The word is not comparable, because a thing either has a handle or it does not.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2